Beogram 8000: Unpacking and Preparing for Use

We often get Beogram turntables sent to us for restoration where the suspension lock down screws are not engaged and the phono cartridge is left on the tonearm. In a lot of those cases it is due to the person sending us the turntable not knowing about the lock down screws and the dangers of leaving a cartridge on the tonearm. With the cartridge I think that it is sometimes left on because the person is a little gun shy about removing it from the tonearm.

When we restore a Beogram and send it back home we pack it very securely. That means removing and packing both the platter and cartridge separately. It also means locking down the suspension.

For Beogram owners that get their properly packed Beogram turntables back home the following pictures show how to prepare the Beogram for play again.

Unlocking the locked suspension just requires a medium size, flat head screw driver. There are three lock down screws that hold down three round, metal plates.

The flat head screw driver is used to back off the locking screws from the round metal plate.

Once the locking screw head is backed out high enough the metal plate is free to rotate. The plate is rotated to line up the larger hole with the locking screw. This is so the screw can be lowered down below the plate where it is out of the way for record play.

When locking down the suspension or unlocking it, make sure not to over tighten the screws. They only have to be snug.

The next step before using the Beogram is to mount the MMC phono cartridge.

Check the tracking force dial and make sure it is set to the tracking force you need for your cartridge. I am using 1 gram for an MMC-20CL cartridge.

To mount the phono cartridge to the Beogram I grasp the tonearm with my thumb and index finger so it can't move.

With the other hand I push the cartridge onto the end of the tonearm. Note that the connector angles down slightly.

It usually requires firmly pressing into place so be careful. That is also why I leave the stylus guard on the cartridge when I do this. This will prevent accidental damage to the stylus and cantilever.

Once the cartridge is in position the stylus guard slides off and is stored away. Don't discard it!

The turntable platter is set in place and this Beogram is ready to play records.